Sample of plan options offered this week

Discussions about next year’s health care coverage resumed Thursday with a proposal to give employees four different options for health care coverage — all under Empire Blue Cross.

The proposal would end charging employees a composite rate for health care and would instead charge different rates for singles, couples and families. For singles, it would mean significant savings. For families, it would likely mean major increases if approved.

The shift would let employees choose whether to pay a high deductible in return for lower weekly deductions out of their paychecks. Or they could choose a plan with no upfront deductible but with more money coming out of their paycheck every week.

Employees now pay $46.17 a week for health care.

Under the proposals put forth Thursday, the paycheck deduction could range from $10.11 to $30.04 a week for singles, from $19.70 to $58.59 weekly for couples, and from $29.30 to $87.12 a week for a family.

The cheapest plan would require employees to pay for the first $2,000 of medical care and 10 percent of subsequent costs (In all instances, preventative care like checkups would still be at no charge) for a total liability of $4,000. That figure does not count the premium deducted from paychecks.

In essence, employees under that plan would be taking the risk that they would not need much in the way of health care.

The other options were all very expensive for families, with weekly payroll deductions of $70.94, $80.37 and $87.12.

One of the options presented would enable employees to pay no deductible, but they would pay $25 for any office visit and $500 for any inpatient care, $100 for outpatient surgery and $100 for emergency room visits.

The other two plans presented came with $500 deductibles. In one scenario, employees would pay 10 percent of costs for care with a $1,500 out of pocket maximum. In the other, employees would pay 20 percent for care and outpatient surgery with a $100 fee for emergency room visits. In both instances, there would be a $35 co-pay for office visits.

For all but the high deductible plan, costs for medicine would be $10 for generic, $35 for brand name and $70 for nonformulary. Under the high deductible plan, medicines would cost $10/$25/$50.

By far, the biggest issue raised Thursday was the negative impact the change would have on families. According to the company, there are 32 individuals represented by the Guild who are on the company’s health insurance. There are 34 couples and 59 families.

The numbers discussed Thursday were all tentative, and the Company’s plan administrator, Rowlands and Barranca, said they were trying to determine whether there was interest in this approach.

Leaders of the Guild and other unions present, representing the mailroom and pressroom, said they would gather input from their members before talks resumed.

“We’ve paid a composite rate for decades. There is no question that means singles subsidize family coverage, but over the years that has been considered an acceptable choice given that many employees eventually move to family care,” Guild President Tim O’Brien said. “We appreciate the ability to examine different options but want to make sure we minimize the impact on employees especially after six years without raises.”

Changing health care along these lines would have to be carefully negotiated and any agreement would need to be approved by the membership. The union is awaiting a version of the document presented with the weekly payroll deducation calculations so that we can share those figures with our membership.

The Newspaper Guild of Albany filed an unfair labor practice charge this week over the Company’s targeting of Guild First Vice President Lindsay LaFountain due to her union activity.

When Lindsay was on maternity leave, the Company eliminated her position. Although the contract requires a returning mother to be given a comparable one, Lindsay was given anything but. The Guild was originally told this was an inside sales position, but that proved inaccurate. Lindsay was told she could only set appointments, she could not make sales, and she was given unrealistic goals that were swiftly more than doubled.

Lindsay literally would have to make a phone call every seven minutes to reach the expected number of calls. That’s if she never went to the bathroom, did research or stepped away from her desk to grab a cup of coffee. And while the Company recently described the position as a “telemarketing job,” which is not what inside sales is, Lindsay is not given a list of potential companies to call. She has to get leads from other sales people and find most of them herself, all while making a call every 7 minutes.

Shortly after she began in the position, and before the Company had even decided how Lindsay would get leads, she was put on a performance improvement plan. Despite the Guild’s repeated demonstration no other employee is being asked to hit the metrics Lindsay is, the Company has not moved in changing the demands or allowing Lindsay to sell directly.

But worst of all, Lindsay has been subjected to a series of negative comments from top managers about her union activity. From immediate supervisors to the Human Resources director to the publisher himself, Lindsay has repeatedly faced negative comments about her being a union activist — all in violation of the law.

Lindsay has repeatedly asked the Company for assistance she has not been given: The name and number of employees at Hearst papers in Connecticut who allegedly do a similar job so she can talk to them, a request to visit the Connecticut operation to see how it’s done, or even a manager at the TU to sit by her side and advise her what she should be doing differently.

All this, while Lindsay has faced a very public exposure of issues in her private life.

“Despite all she is going through, Lindsay always comes to work with a smile on her face, focused on trying to do a job despite the obstacles placed before her and spending her own time still trying to help her colleagues,” Guild President Tim O’Brien said. “The Company has deliberately set Lindsay up to fail and set unrealistic goals no other employee faces, all while making clear her union involvement displeases the bosses. This is illegal, and the Guild will not stand by while one of our best and brightest activists — and one of the Times Union’s best and brightest employees — is subject to such denigrating treatment.”

Leaders of the Guild and other unions began discussions Thursday on health care for
2014.

No decisions were made, and the talks will continue next Thursday. The Company also based its numbers on an assumption Guild members will pay a share of the Company deductible, which our union has not agreed to do.

The Company’s consultant, Rowlands and Barranca, presented multiple options and were recommending a switch from Blue Shield to Empire Blue Cross. That plan would not include coverage for going to doctors outside Blue Cross’ national network, which we now can do at a cost. The firm’s Michael Barranca said about 2 percent of the medical payments tend to be for doctors who are not part of the network.

Employees now pay $46.17 a week for health care. Under the numbers presented by the Company, that would rise to $54.91 a week if we stay with Blue Shield, an 18.9 percent increase. If we switch to the Empire Blue Cross and keep the $750 deductible, it would rise to $53.13 weekly, a 15 percent hike.

The company’s consultant presented three alternatives that would raise the deductible to $1,000. The Empire plan with the higher deductible would cost $51.93 a week, up 12.4 percent.

Guild President Tim O’Brien noted the slight savings on the premium would not make a $250 increase in the deductible worthwhile. He said there would be a backlash if the Company tried to raise the deductible.

As the Guild examined the numbers afterward, it became clear the Company is assuming our members would pay 23 percent of the Company’s reimbursement of its part of the deductible and would cover part of the cost for Rowlands and Barranca to administer the plan.

This stems back to a discussion last year where the Company sought to change the definition of “total cost” to include these items. We went into off-the-record negotiations last year, and the only agreement reached was to pay a set dollar amount.

“We have not reached any agreement on these numbers, and we maintain our right to bargain over exactly what our members will pay,” O’Brien said.

While the Company said its brokers had found a plan that would increase premium costs only about 4.5 percent, the bill to Guild members would rise substantially more than that due to the Company’s attempts at cost-shifting.

“Like last year, we are committed to bargaining on behalf of our members and we will carefully examine all these numbers in detail,” O’Brien said. “We will also keep our members informed every step of the way. With no raise in more than six years, Guild
members cannot afford more shifting of health care costs from the Company to
the employees.”

Adam McAvoy became the newest member of the Guild’s Executive Board Thursday when he was elected third vice president by the membership.

McAvoy, a customer service representative in the Circulation Department, has worked for the Times Union since December 2010. He and Photographer Cindy Schultz will go to Baltimore later this month for the annual New Officers Training Seminar. Each year the local sends one or two delegates to be taught how to bargain, handle grievances and other aspects of being a union leader.

“We’re grateful to Adam for joining the board. It will be great having a representative from Circulation again, and we know Adam’s outgoing personality will make him a strong representative of his colleagues,” said Guild President Tim O’Brien.

O’Brien, a reporter, was re-elected, as were Secretary Mark Hempstead, a marketing media specialist; Treasurer Marianne Mahr, an SEO specialist in advertising; Chief Steward Brian Nearing, a reporter; First Vice President Lindsay LaFountain, an advertising salesperson, and Second Vice President Jeff Boyer, an editorial artist. Nearing is on a leave of absence but plans to return October 1.

The Guild deeply mourns the loss of our dear colleague Jim McGrath. The newspaper’s chief editorial writer, Jim was a longtime supporter of the Guild, even when he was no longer a member, always stopping to offer words of encouragement. We send our condolences to his wife Darryl and his family.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, Sept. 14th at 1:00 pm. at the Trinity United Methodist Church, 235 Lark Street (corner of Lark and Lancaster).

Jim McGrath, longtime Times Union editorial writer, dies